Jazz returns from ocean voyage

Parapara teenager Jazz Lee traded four weeks of school last month for the opportunity to undertake an ocean voyage from Nelson to Vanuatu, where he spent time exploring several islands before flying home from Port Vila.

The 14-year-old Golden Bay High School student was invited to become one of the six-strong crew of the Lilly Bolero after spending time with its skipper Kieran Latham at Port Tarakohe as part of the school’s mentoring programme. Jazz said it was too good an opportunity to turn down.

“Living almost next door to the Aorere Futures Trust at Parapara meant I have always mucked around in boats, so sailing was my preferred option. When Kieran invited me afterwards to do some deepwater sailing I jumped at the opportunity. It was a terrific experience and I just loved it.”

Constructed of ferrocement around 20 years ago in Gweek, Cornwall, the 16.5m (54’) Lilly Bolero is a gaff–rigged schooner with traditional block-and-tackle rigging, and capable of sailing under six sails at once. The design of the lookalike pirate ship is based on a 100-year-old Bristol Channel pilot cutter. The boat became a familiar sight at Tarakohe over the last three years as it was readied for its latest voyage.

Also aboard was Dari Harris of Ward Holmes Road, who says Jazz adapted perfectly to life afloat. “He loved climbing the rigging, right to the top of the mast at times, and loved sitting astride the big bowsprit, watching the boat cut through the water. He did his share of work, even cooking up a batch of cheese scones en route. Rough seas did not seem to faze him one bit; in fact, he seemed to enjoy those times  best and was totally fearless. He didn’t even get seasick once.”

The Lilly Bolero left Nelson on 1 May and encountered perfect sailing conditions right up to Cape Reinga, but from there the wind picked up steadily until it was blowing 50 knots on the fourth day out from the New Zealand coast.

......... you can read more at the GB Weekly Web Site

Gerard Hindmarsh (16June 2010)

Gillian Jackson recalls climbing adventures

“Once you’ve looked death in the face there is nothing left to be feared,” says Collingwood resident Gillian Jackson, reflecting on the courage she mustered some 60 years ago that enabled her to climb steep summits, struggle up icy glaciers and risk being swamped by avalanches and rockfalls. “Of course we had no helmets in those days, or safety gear; we just climbed it.”

At an illustrated talk at the library last week, Gillian, now aged 80, singlehandedly entertained lovers of the outdoors with humorous anecdotes about her climbing days, and left everybody in awe as she showed her breathtaking black-and-white slides and hauled out kilos of climbing equipment—polished ice-picks, the heavy japare (a kind of oil cloth), the metal crampons kept on a wooden board, the sisal ropes and the solid backpack.

“We had no lightweight materials in those days and our mountain mules and crampons were quite a bit different from nowadays’ equipment. There were no boots made then for women climbers either, and I had to wear schoolboy’s boots, which were just like cardboard. I never did a trip without thousands of blisters and I lost my toenails several times,” she told the gathered crowd. “Out tent had no floor and we had to lay on the bare rocks or we had rock bivvys and only our sleeping bag covers for shelter. I loved the old huts, but so many of the dear little huts have disappeared now.”

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Ina Holst (27 August 2009)

Local runner returns from Kalahari Desert marathon

Averill Turnbull surely looks like a long-distance runner. Lean, long-limbed and strong, Averill has just returned from the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon held in early October.

Running 237km across the African desert in seven days, in temperatures of 40° Celsius, was a challenging yet deeply satisfying adventure, said Averill.
“It was my first multi-day event and I want to go back next year. It was very dry and hot during the race, although we had a thunderstorm the day before. Last year it was 10 degrees hotter, and 30 per cent of the runners did not make it, so this year it was quite a ‘cold event’. I wanted to see how I go in the heat and I trained really well for it by running in three thermal layers and a goosedown jacket and sitting in the sauna afterwards. The training was actually worse than the event.”

Averill was the only New Zealander among 73 participants from 12 different countries who started the 10th desert marathon this year. It is a self-sufficiency race, where runners have to carry everything needed for the entire trip, including food. The race is run over six legs in seven days with set distances for each day, ranging from 28 to 82km and through varied terrain. The 250km route was suddenly shortened to 237km as an area under a land claim had to be avoided, and the runners had to be evacuated from the vicinity during the night.

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Ina Holst (5 November 2009)